Lars Winnerbäck

Lars Winnerbäck began playing guitar at the age of 10, and by his early teens he had fallen hard for punk rock, as many people in their early teens do. With not all that much else to do in the town of Linköping, where he grew up, he and his friend from school Staffan Palmberg forming the punk rock band Snoddas. The band were only together for a couple of years but it was while playing with them that Winnerbäck began writing songs properly, performing his first show as a solo artist in 1992. Shortly after that show he made the conscious decision not to attend upper secondary school and decided to dedicate his life to music, releasing a string of demo tapes until his big break came in 1996. Along with a group of his friends, Winnerbäck decided to create his own record label and released his first two albums on it, beginning with his debut effort, 1996’s “Dans med svåra steg”, and its follow up “Rusningstrafik”, which came in 1997.

The albums were huge hits critically and agreeable hits commercially, but the complexities and compromises of running a record label were proving too much for Winnerbäck and his friends. Fortunately, he was able to sign his first major label record deal with Universal instead, and his big break came with his fourth album, 1999’s “Kom”. The album was an immediate Gold certified success, and netted Winnerbäck his first Grammis award the following year. To this day, he remains one of the most beloved acts in Swedish pop, able to comfortably sell out stadiums and arenas all over his native country, and with most of his albums either certified Gold or Platinum. Over two decades since his debut, Lars Winnerbäck is still at the very peak of his powers, and for that, he comes highly recommended.